Marvel at the Awesome and Mysterious Power of 19th-Century Magic Advertisements

Devils. Crystal Balls. Skeletons. Bats. Floating figures. Disembodied heads. The promotional posters for late 19th-century magic shows promised sensational entertainment and awe-inspiring tricks, among them necromancy, mind-reading, fortune-telling, levitation and hypnosis. It’s no surprise that attending a magic show at a large theater–as opposed to a country fair, where they had traditionally been held–became a popular pastime for Victorian-era audiences.

These magicians and their illusions are portrayed in exaggerated glory in the advertisements for the performances, which make up a large part of the Magic Poster Collection from the Library of Congress. Below, we bring you the most tantalizing specimens from the trove.

A 1920 poster for the ‘master mystifier’ and necromancer, Harry Houdini. (Photo: Library of Congress)

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